They Shouldn't But They Do
by kbecks41319
Summary: There was something between them, something that should be ignored, but neither are strong enough to say no. Set in season 2. AU.


**A/N:** I.. Uh.. I'm in love with this pairing. No other real reason for this. I go to write Mer/Alex or Mer/Addison and I get this. So... patience on my other stories? I'll get to them eventually, promise :) For now, enjoy this! As always: I own nothing.

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><p>It's pretty clear there's something between them. They both know it. And they both know it shouldn't happen. He's here after Addison, trying to get her to come home, and she's doing her best to forget Derek.<p>

After he's done stitching his face, she runs for cover with her friends. She even acknowledges that they shouldn't be alone. Alex offers to take him off her hands and she tries to forget about it.

He's torn between begging Addison to come home and following after the lusty intern. She sends another one in who is full of himself and he almost punches him. Blowing it off as left over anger towards Derek, he does as the intern says and pushes both women out of his mind.

She can't shake him from her thoughts and pretty soon she's out in the ambulance bay, head between her knees. Sucking in much needed oxygen, she doesn't register the footsteps behind her until someone is touching her elbow. It's him and she feels her heart literally stop before it goes into overdrive. She can't hear him, even though she know he's talking.

He can tell she's not listening to him. Years of women hanging onto his every word has given him a special.. talent, for lack of better words. He touches her shoulder this time and asks if she's okay.

Is she okay? No. Okay definitely does not cover how she is at the moment. But she can't tell him that. Can't let him, or anyone else, know that she's breaking. She smiles slightly and shakes her head, muttering how she's fine and that it's just a headache. She can't tell if he believes her but he's shrugging his shoulders, offering to distract her with a devilish smile.

And there it is. The manwhore charm, as Addison once politely called it. He wants to slap himself, though he doesn't know why. She obviously doesn't want to tell him what's wrong. What better way to try and distract her than offer sexual comfort? Okay, maybe someone should throw something at him.. like a brick.

She licks her dry, cracked lips and backs herself up against the wall as she watches him think. He's working hard to keep that smile on his face but it's the eyes that let her know that he's not completely there. She wonders what could throw off his charm but doesn't have time to over think it as the doors open and Bailey stalks out, informing her that an ambulance is on the way.

The short doctor is casting them a glance as if she suspects something more was going on, though most of the look is directed towards the intern. That has his mind working, wondering what she could have done that would have granted her this - Ah, Derek. Of course. Sleeping with your Attending had to ruffle a few feathers..

Not bothering to spare him another glance, she heads towards the doors and steps inside to get a gown and details on the ambulance coming in. She's glad for the distraction, knowing that if someone hadn't came and broke them up that something would have happened.

He's tempted to stop her, to push her up against the wall right there and kiss her until he couldn't any more.. but he's not sure that it would be appreciated, or that he'd leave with all his body parts. Derek shows up at the ambulance entrance and he watches with amusement as the intern gravitates away from him - as if she can't stand to be around him. When his ex-bestfriend's eyes flicker towards him, he turns and heads for the bar across the street. He'd wait out her shift - though, he had no idea which her that was.

He disappeared from the ambulance bay minutes before the ten year old with a ice pick in his abdomen showed up. She suspects it had to do with the way Derek was staring him down but she's not sure as she pulls her dirty scrubs over her head and sheds her pants. Cristina's talked her into going to Joe's and she's ready to drink until she can't remember her own name. It's a great plan, an awesome plan even, until she walks through the door behind her friend and the first person she sees is him.

Not sure what it is that's nagging him to look, he turns and finds that's she has just walked in with another one of her intern friends. She looks about as surprised to see him as he is to see her. He flashes her a grin before turning his attention back to the drink in his hand, trying to ignore the urge to get up and go to her.

Cristina drags her to their usual table in the corner before going to order some drinks from the bar and leaving her alone to her thoughts. Maybe it would have been best for them to go back to her house. There was alcohol there. It would be just the two of them, everyone else was at work. This had been such a bad idea.

He tells the bartender, who he thinks is called Joe, to put whatever they order on his tab before slipping away to the bathroom. He needs to leave and go back to his hotel but his bladder is protesting the thought of sitting in the back of a cab. Plus, there's something about that intern.. something that made him want to stick around - even if it meant a second run in with Derek's fist.

Joe is giving her a look, the one usually reserved for when she makes not-so-smart decisions about Derek while she's throwing back shots of tequila. But she hasn't had a drink yet, Cristina's being ridiculously slow, and she hasn't thought about Derek since she was cornered in the ambulance bay by.. No, best not to think about him right now. He has disappeared to the bathroom - which.. that had been when Joe gave her the first look.

There's a redhead hanging outside of the bathroom when he's finished that threatens to distract him, thoughts of Addison swirling in his mind, but he shakes the feeling and heads back to the bar. He pulls his wallet out and pays for his drinks and the interns, tipping the bartender as he throws back his last drink. His eyes wonder to her over in the corner, betraying him even as he feels Joe's eyes boring into him. This can not be the slightest bit healthy. He forces his eyes away from her, nodding in the direction of the bar before heading outside.

He's gone. His eyes are no longer trying to look inside her head, figure out what she's thinking. She knows it's a bad idea, knows that it can only lead to bad, but she's up from her seat before she knows what she's doing and she's at the bar. Joe lets her know what she had suspected - he had paid for the drinks that Cristina had claimed were "free". Joe only gave her free drinks when she was having a particularly rough time. With a friendly smile, the bartender warns her not to do it - as if he's in her head. Which, he could be.. as much time she spends around here.

There's a cab sitting in front of him but he's yet to move from the side of the building where he had collapsed only moments after exiting. He needs to leave. It would be for the best. No one would get hurt. Derek wouldn't hate him. Addison wouldn't call him a manwhore. He wouldn't hurt her. Once again he's not so sure which her he's talking about, but he finds it doesn't matter as he hears the door open and he's faced with a choice.

The fresh air slaps her in the face as soon as the door opens and she pauses, trying to think straight. She had only had one shot, had barely taken the time to give Cristina some half-ass excuse. There's a cab already waiting, but something has her turning to the right. He's there, as if he was waiting for her. Was he? She swallows hard and, ignoring every protesting bone in her body, walks over to him.

She flashes him a self-conscious smile as she stands in front of him, forcing him to stand up straight and look at her. There's two ways this can go and he knows it: he can either take her back to his hotel room, or he could go to his room alone. Either one would be bad, although the latter only for himself. He barely thinks before he's offering his hand and pushing himself off the wall, smirking as she takes his hand and they head for the cab.


End file.
